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Group Disregards History in Tirade Against Sam Houston

The statue of Sam Houston in Hermann Park in Houston (Hermann Park Conservancy)

By Joe Hyde | May. 27, 2017 8:36 am

A publicity stunt conducted on Facebook by a left wing group demands the statue of Sam Houston be removed from Hermann Park in Houston. “Antifa Anti-Oppression Rally. Texans demand the removal of the idol image of gross slave owner Sam Houston,” read a pinned post on the Texas Antifa Facebook page since May 22.

“These statues are a slap in the face of all Black Americans!” another post states.

Three weeks away. The racist alt-right don't have time to rally against us in significant numbers, which allows us to truly be heard. Texans all over want these idols removed!

The scheduled June 10 protest rally comes days prior to the June 19 celebration of “Juneteenth.” Juneteenth celebrates the day Union General Gordon Granger landed on Galveston Island, on June 19, 1865, and proclaimed all slaves to be free and enforced Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in Texas for the first time in the 2.5 years since the Executive Order was signed.

Juneteenth celebrations lingered from the late-1800s until the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement, but were never officially recognized, until 1980 when the Texas Legislature designated June 19 as an official state holiday.

Today, Juneteenth is recognized across the nation, and the recognition of that day started in Texas.

The Sam Houston statue of the father of Texas sitting atop his horse Saracen was erected at the intersection of Montrose and Main Streets in Houston in 1925. Cast in bronze, it was designed by sculptor Enrico Filiberto Cerrachio (1880-1956). The statue was restored in 1996 by the Houston Municipal Art Commission, according to the Hermann Park Conservancy website.

If the group is successful in getting the Hermann Park statue removed, they promise to go after the huge Sam Houston statue seen off I-45 in Huntsville, home of Sam Houston State University. “After we have this one removed, we can then work on getting the 67-foot Sam Houston statue outside of Huntsville turned into parking lot gravel, and the forest renamed,” reads another post.

Above: The Statue of Sam Houston near Huntsville, Texas as seen from Interstate 45. (AmericanProfile.com)

The irony is that Sam Houston was pro-Union and generally opposed slavery leading up to the Civil War. As a U.S. Senator from Texas from 1846 – 1859, Houston was described as an “ardent Unionist.” He supported the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and voted to ban slavery in the new state of Oregon in 1848. He also genuflected to the principles of the American (Know-Nothing) Party, and was almost nominated to be that party’s U.S. presidential candidate for the 1860 election. He supported the Compromise of 1850. For his pro-Union, anti-slavery stances, Houston was defeated when he ran for Governor of Texas in 1857.

He won the governorship two years later, in 1859, and adamantly opposed secession. But the state seceded anyway in a special session of the Texas Legislature called The Sucession Convention. Afterwards, Governor Houston refused to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederate States of America. Another Texas convention removed him from office for that.

Channel 2 (NBC) in Houston reports there will be a counter-protest over the statue by open carry groups. Channel 2 quotes the vice president of Texas Open Carry David Amad, “Our event is to make sure they understand that one way or another that statue is not going anywhere.”

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Rants

Why not? We have stood by and let them rewrite our countries history by removing all the other confederate statues, so why not Sam Houston? Why not rename the city as well, we have gone done this slippery slope without hardy a word from the general public. Only the hard core rebel flag waving group have come out in protest, and that only made it look worse. Where were the rest of us? All Americans should have stood up and said no to this movement. You can not rewrite history. It belongs to all of us. Three sides of my family fought in that war, on both sides, and it's disrespectful to all of the dead to take down those statues. Why do we not dare speak out about white rights, is this just a black rights issue? I'm Irish, we were slaves to, what about us? Social issues are important, but let's be fair across the board, but since as a nation we have sat by & gone this far done this slippery slope, where is going to end? And just so you know, I am a lifelong democrat, not some crazy right wing republican, no offense Joe.
But this is madness!
Macaroni Jones 5.27.17

Respectively disagree. There's a difference between rewriting history and removing statues of confederate statues. Having huge statues of confederate heroes sitting on pedestals in the middle of cities is honoring them. There's places you can learn about the history of the civil war like museums and historical battlefields, and as long as those places tell the story about both sides the battlefield, then history won't be rewritten.

As for the Sam Houston statue, I reckon it should stay. The author of this article makes valid points. It's not like Houston supported the rebels, it just appeared he was tired of bloodshed and he realized that fighting against the union was not a battle that was likely to be won. The only argument that the protesters have made is that he was a slave owner. I think that as long as we acknowledge that he did in fact own slaves but opposed the civil war while seemingly supporting Lincoln, it is likely to be ok to let the statue stand. After all, George Washington was also a slave owner and I'm not hearing any arguments that his statues or portraits from money be removed.

Confederate monuments are for those who served and died for secession from a Northern government which was charging too much in tariff (Morrill) tariff. A law was passed in 1958 that considered Confederates the same as US vets. They were not fighting for slavery. Slaves existed in the North as well as the South. Lee had no slaves and said that slavery was a political and moral evil.

I have to agree with Macaroni - it is history rewritten - it needs to stop - history is history - but much has been rewritten. Are we inspired by ISIS to keep removing monuments? There was an article earlier in the week about "There's places you can learn about the history of the civil war like museums and historical battlefields, and as long as those places tell the story about both sides the battlefield, then history won't be rewritten." Guess what? They're closing because they were badgered to death about the fact that Confederate flags were being sold there even though they had for years tried to appease the local politicians. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/05/25/civil-war-museum-clos...

So I wonder what history my descendants and yours will be taught as they go to school? I'd dare say it will be un-truths. I think that each of us needs to respect others and their history as well as respecting our fellow man in everyday affairs. But don't tell me that you are offended that my 2nd Great Grandfather fought for the South - you didn't know him (or me) and you surely couldn't understand their reasoning.

If we continue down this path, ALL our forefathers such as Washington; Jefferson; Adams and others will have memorials torn down because we don't like it!